74% Percentage of Americans surveyed who say that the Augusta National Golf Club's refusal to bow to recent pressure and admit women members makes no difference in how they view the Masters. SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS.

AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - An impressive 2014 class of debutants descends on Augusta National Golf Club, with two dozen hopefuls yearning to become the first player in 35 years to win the Masters on his first crack. Not since Fuzzy Zoeller won in his initial Masters in 1979 has a first-time player solved the fast-sloping greens, tricky winds and pine tree lined fairways to register victory. Rookies including Jordan Spieth, Victor Dubuisson, Patrick Reed and Jimmy...

Local officials and Augusta National Golf Club will make available to protesters about five acres of land across the street from the club during the Masters, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. - Former boxing champion Pernell Whitaker was sentenced to 27 months in prison for violating probation on a cocaine conviction in Virginia Beach, Va.

AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - Louis Oosthuizen learned more about the Augusta National Golf Club from missing the halfway cut last year than he did by coming perilously close to winning the Masters in 2012, the South African said. The 2010 British Open champion failed to qualify for the weekend 12 months ago after rounds of 74 and 76 gave him a six-over-par tally of 150. "Last year I missed the cut but I learned so many things about where they put the pins here and about where...

"Mr. Snow has done exactly what he should do. No one in the public eye . . . should be willing to be identified with sex discrimination." -- Martha Burk after Treasury secretary nominee John W. Snow resigned his membership in Augusta National Golf Club, which has been under fire for not allowing women to join. Translation: "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too! Ah, ha, ha, ha!"

AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) - Two years after Augusta National Golf Club finally agreed to allow women to join its membership, the club's chairman hinted he would vote to support a move to include female members to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. Recognized as the spiritual home of golf and guardian of the rules of the game since 1754, St Andrews has come under increasing fire for excluding women members. But things could finally change in September...

For the first time in its existence, Augusta National Golf Club will have women as part of its membership. The home of the Masters, Augusta National is one of the PGA Tour's most recognizable courses, but for more than 75 years was also known for its exclusivity, not allowing female golfers to become members. Billy Paine, Augusta National Chairman, announced Monday that Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore were joining the club. “This is a joyous occasion as we...

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The return to Augusta National Golf Club has carried a little extra energy for Adam Scott this week. Trip No. 13 to the Masters for the 34-year-old Australian has been unlike any of the others before it. For starters, Scott arrived on the grounds for the first time with a green jacket, his prize for last year's dramatic playoff win over Angel Cabrera. Scott also now has his place in the Champions Locker Room, sharing a stall with Gary Player. “He gets a lot...

GOLF The 69th Masters Tournament begins Thursday at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia with some of the opening round to air from 3 to 5:30 p.m. on the USA Network. MLB Three Pittsburgh Pirates minor-leaguers were suspended for failing drug tests last year. This is in addition to 38 other minor-leaguers who were suspended for violating baseball's minor-league steroids policy. WOLVES The Wolves surrendered a two-goal lead but used a late...

(Reuters) - The Masters golf tournament will be staged for a 78th time at Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia from April 10-13. * The first of the year's four major championships, the Masters was co-founded by Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones, with the inaugural edition held in 1934. * It is the only one of the four majors hosted at the same venue, the par-72 Augusta National Golf Club which was designed by Alister Mackenzie and Bobby Jones and opened for play in January 1933.

The list of the 94 golfers who qualified for the 68th Masters Tournament beginning April 8 has been released. Match the name with the reason they were invited to the Augusta National Golf Club's tournament. 1. Brandt Snedeker 2. Ernie Els (the name as published has been corrected in this text) 3. Arnold Palmer 4. Lian-Wei Zhang 5. Martha Burk A. Previous Masters champion B. Special invitation C. Not invited to compete D. Players Championship E. U.S. Amateur Public...

(Reuters) - Tiger Woods announced on Tuesday he would miss next week's Masters after undergoing back surgery for a pinched nerve that has troubled him for months. The world number one pulled out of his traditional Masters warm-up event in Florida last month and released a statement on his website on Tuesday saying he was withdrawing from the first major of 2014, starting at Augusta National on April 10. "After attempting to get ready for the Masters, and failing to make the necessary...

John Snow, nominated Monday to be treasury secretary, immediately announced that he was resigning from the Augusta National Golf Club, reducing the possibility that the club's policy of refusing to accept women as members would become an issue in his confirmation hearings. The club, in Augusta, Ga., is host to the Masters golf tournament. It has been under increasing public pressure to change its policy. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the decision was Snow's and that President...

Former President Jimmy Carter says women eventually will be able to join Augusta National Golf Club, "but the members themselves will have to make that decision." Carter criticized Chairman Hootie Johnson for his statement that the club would not admit women "at the point of a bayonet." "I think that the present administration of the Masters has not been very wise with the statement," Carter said, referring to the club located in his home state of Georgia. "I think it should have been...

I read with great interest the April 11 editorial "The high cost of stubbornness." I agree with everything that you said regarding Hootie Johnson and his vow to never allow any women to join Augusta National Golf Club. Johnson reminds me of Gov. George Wallace of Alabama who 40 years ago stood at the door of the University of Alabama and did not allow any black students to enter. Somehow it always happens that someone comes along who likes to keep a whole group of people down and deny it equal opportunities.

George Bunker's attack on women (Letters, June 2) in response to Louise Kiernan's May 12 column ("A whacky idea: Luring women to golf courses") is the most mean-spirited letter I have read in a long time. Women play golf for the same reasons men do, enjoyment of the game being the main one. Women do not have to answer to anyone as to why they play golf. Augusta National Golf Club is full of members who are CEOs. Now, female CEOs would also like membership. Surely more members in the club...